Dark and Light
by CeliaEquus
Summary: 2nd response to the Five Chapter Challenge, because I felt like it. The pairing is Luna and Severus. You're getting no more summary than that. The usual disclaimers apply, as always.
1. The BreakUp

"The Break-Up"

Sometimes, Luna Lovegood felt like dying. She didn't know where things had gone wrong between her and her former potions professor. Were they _too_ different, like so many people had said? They argued a bit; she knew that. Maybe they had felt as though they weren't all that dependant on each other.

Or maybe _she_ was too dependant on _him_. He helped her, after all; not the other way around. She was lost without him. Sometimes literally. In fact, that was how they had met each other again, four years after she had graduated from Hogwarts.

But it had all gone downhill one day.

"_Why were you so distant this morning?" she asked at lunchtime. Severus merely grunted, and buttered his bread. "Sev?"_

"_Don't call me that infernal nickname, woman," he said, dropping his knife onto the edge of his plate._

"_You've never objected to it before…"_

"_Well, I do now! Gods above, why don't you grow up?"_

"_I thought… I thought that…"_

"_That what, hmm?"_

"_That you liked me for me, no matter what."_

"_Ah, the naïve little Miss Lovegood. How very innocent you are."_

"_You took that from me two years ago, with nothing to show for it."_

_He scowled down at her, eyes flashing. "Quite. There _is_ nothing to show for it, is there?"_

By that night, she had left, unable to stand this new animosity he had developed towards her. She knew that she was slowing him down, holding him back, probably driving him mad. So, with nothing more to say, she had moved out, and moved far away.

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Another go at the Five Chapter Challenge, over in the forums. For those of you who haven't read my first response, please go and read "The Professor and The Apprentice", starring Hermione G and Alastor M.

**Please review!**


	2. The Vacation

"The Vacation"

He still couldn't help thinking over the time they had met. Severus Snape had stored that particular moment in his Pensieve—only after he had realised just how important that memory was to him. Ah! a holiday had never been so sweet.

"_Hello? I don't suppose anyone can help me?"_

_He recognised that voice. From where, though? After all, most of the young English witches—and some of the older ones—had been taught by him at Hogwarts. So it could have been anyone. But he would know if it was one of his Slytherins. And anyone with that kind of dreamy voice _certainly_ couldn't be a Slytherin. He couldn't imagine them in Gryffindor, for that matter._

"_What is it?" he called back, searching through the rainforest. He had been persuaded to go on holiday, and had been looking for potions ingredients when he heard the cry._

"_Is that you, Professor Snape?"_

"_Yes. Who is this?"_

"_It's Luna Lovegood, sir. Where are you? And where am I? I shouldn't have let the Hinkypunks lead my astray…"_

_He rolled his eyes as he pictured the vague blonde he had last seen less than five years ago. The professor followed the wispy voice as it droned on about some kind of mythical creature, until he found the source. Pushing aside the branches of a large bush, he saw her._

_Well, she certainly had changed. Taller, with longer hair, shimmering in the few rays of light pushing through the overhead branches of the towering trees surrounding the glade. Luna turned around at the noise, and smiled at him._

"_Hello, Professor," she said, walking forward. "Do you know the way out of here? Only I'm afraid that I'm lost, and this is a bit of a dead spot for magic. But don't worry. I checked, and we haven't stumbled into a fairy ring."_

"_You can never know just how glad I am about that, Miss Lovegood. What brings you to this part of the world?"_

_They talked until they reached the hotel, where both were actually staying. In fact, on the same floor, though a few corridors away from each other. Luna had set out early in the morning, but Severus had been out since the previous night, which was why they had missed each other. She suggested that they have lunch together, which led to dinner together, and then even meeting up for breakfast the next morning. This pattern repeated itself until the night before Luna was due to leave. Dinner turned into something that led to breakfast being brought to them in his bed._

_Severus had left with her, three days ahead of his own scheduled departure._

He sighed, lounging back in his armchair, feet resting on a green leather ottoman. She had left him yesterday, and he didn't know how he was going to survive. He had given her time to cool off—a whole twelve hours—but this was driving him mad. A few hours later, the owl he had sent returned, message still attached to its leg. Her belongings had all disappeared, and the Ministry of Magic said that she had left, and was planning to live in the Muggle world.

Severus couldn't sleep that night. Ever since that vacation, this was only the second time he had slept without her, the first time being the previous night.

Why had she left?

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Why indeed? Well, we kind of know. But why was he so crotchety with her? Well, you'll find out as we go along, dear readers.

**Look at me. I haven't even started posting this story yet, and I'm pretending that I actually have people reading this thing. Let us hope, for the sake of my sanity, that I do by the time this chapter is posted.**

**Please review!**


	3. Wish on a Star

"Wish on a Star"

It had been three months. Luna was continually covering her tracks, wanting to keep away from all distractions while she tried to better herself. But it was so _hard_ to go against her natural personality. She needed to grow up, and she needed to be more down to earth. That way, she could win back the man she loved.

Because, you see, that was the problem. She did indeed love him.

And it was driving her mad. Well, madder than before.

"Oh, Severus," she murmured, looking out at the stars. "I'm trying to be good enough for you. Really I am. I just wish it was easier. I wish I could be enough for you. I wish you had said that you loved me, outside of _making _love." She bowed her head. "And I wish that we could have had children. But I know you would never want that."

_They were walking through Muggle London, trying to find something for Arthur Weasley, since Christmas was only a week away. The crowds were thick, and they were holding hands, just to make sure that they weren't separated, and didn't get lost._

_Or, at least, that's what they told themselves._

_People were moving so slowly that they ground to a halt in front of a shop that sold baby things and maternity products. Luna couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart when she saw pregnant women inside, shopping for cots, prams, toys… everything._

"_What's the matter?" he asked, blunt as always. She looked up at him, but realised that he was looking at the window, watching her reflection._

"_Just… thinking about my mother," she lied, and she closed her eyes, leaning into his side. "At least I remember her a little."_

"_I think about my mother as well," he said. She opened her eyes, and saw him staring straight ahead. His expression darkened. "And then I remember my father. Dumbledore once asked me to think about whether my grandfather abused his son, and therefore started a cycle, or even continued a cycle. Merlin forbid I ever turn out like that."_

"_You'd be a wonderful father."_

_He snorted. "Come on. The crowd is thinning now." He tugged on her hand. With one last, wistful look at the mothers in the store, Luna allowed herself to be pulled away._

Now, she wiped a tear. From the moment she had looked in that window, she had wanted to stop taking the contraceptive potion. Even just once, to see if they were meant to have a child together. But since he didn't want any children, she had kept it up. Both had agreed that they didn't need to be married. People really didn't care about that after the war, just as long as the wizarding population was built up again.

With Severus clearly not wanting to be any part of that, Luna resigned herself to being motherless. He was the only one she would ever want as the father of her children.

And she would do anything to keep his love.

So she stayed away for another three months. If half a year wasn't enough to make her change, then she wasn't trying hard enough, and she didn't deserve him.

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Poor Luna, being all angst-y. Are things becoming clear?

**Please don't be up in arms about her attitude. "Your eyes are the eyes of a woman in love…"**

**And all that.**

***Beams***

**Please review, my dears!**


	4. A Look in the Mirror

"A Look in the Mirror"

Severus didn't know that Luna had just reached Hogsmeade. He was busy reminiscing again. It was the only thing that stopped him from dying; because, without Luna, he was just wasting away. No matter how much he was fed, or how many potions Madame Pomfrey forced down his throat, he just didn't have the strength to care about anything. And without that strength, he was fading to nothing.

It was all very well for the rest of the staff to be concerned; but they had no idea just how much she meant to him. Even he hadn't, until they were strolling through the castle one day, exploring it together several weeks before Christmas.

_A door appeared near them. Curious and suspicious respectively, Luna and Severus drew their wands, and went forward. Inside, there was an ornate mirror with writing etched around the top. They knew was it was immediately: the Mirror of Erised._

_Luna never told him what she had seen in the mirror, and he certainly couldn't bring himself to tell _her_ what he saw._

_There they stood, side by side. Wedding rings were still absent, but two things were present that he had never really considered before. Two people._

_Standing in front of Luna was a boy just a foot shorter than her. He couldn't have been much more than ten, barely Hogwarts age. He had black hair and blue eyes, with his father's hooked nose and his mother's cheekbones. In Severus' arms was a little girl, barely two years old, with dark blonde hair and deep blue eyes, startlingly deep blue. Almost black, really. Her face was buried in her father's shoulder, with a cute, button nose and one eye peeking out from beneath his curtain of hair. Her hands clutched at the top of his robes, and Severus could almost feel the warmth of his body, if he thought about it hard enough. Luna placed one hand on her son's left shoulder, and had the other arm linked in the crook of her lover's elbow._

_He had never seen anything like it, and he worried that he might never see it again._

Severus stopped taking his contraceptive potion after that. They both took one; it would cause no harm, and was an extra precaution, just in case one of them forgot. Not that either would be so irresponsible; but missing the potion once could result in pregnancy, something which neither of them wanted.

Or so he had thought. And he had really hoped that just once she might forget, and he could pretend that he had forgotten, too. Devious and under-handed it was, but then he _was_ a Slytherin. He knew that she could never want children with him; but how could she say no if she fell pregnant?

The day that Luna left, Severus had been angry because he had found out that she was still taking her potion, and he was frustrated. Unreasonable it was. But clearly she was making a conscious effort to keep taking her potion. He had been relying on psychology; that if she _really_ wanted a child with him, she would forget, just once.

But she had taken every single dose.

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Aha! So now it's all coming together.

**Next chapter: they meet again. What will happen?**

**Review, if thou pleaseth!**


	5. Rain

"Rain"

It was going to be a long trek, both up to Hogwarts and down to Hogsmeade. They both knew this, and yet they set out anyway; Luna, to go and find Severus; and Severus, to go to the Hogshead to drown his sorrows. Assuming he could even get to the village without collapsing. He was getting weaker and weaker, without knowing that Luna was, too.

They reached the Hogwarts gates at the same time, staring at each other. Luna gasped when she saw how gaunt Severus was, quite unlike the last time she had seen him. He looked exhausted, and his robes hung off his frame. His hair was lankier than usual, and he barely seemed to register the rain that had started to come down not long after they both left.

"Severus," she whispered.

"Luna. You're back." Gods, even his voice held nothing other than sound.

"What happened to you?"

"Six months of sleeping alone happened to me. You look well."

"Let's get you to the pub," she said, holding out a hand. "It's closer, and you can get a warm drink there straight away."

"The house elves can attend to me," he said, swaying where he stood. Her eyes widened as he summoned an elf, who took him back to the castle. Luna hurried in the gates, and called for Dobby, who took her to the potions master's side. He was sinking into an armchair by the fire, and he weakly Summoned a bottle of Firewhiskey and a glass. It wasn't Ogden's, but it would do.

"If your intention is to get drunk, it will not do," Luna said, taking the alcohol from him. "Something warm is needed." She performed a drying spell, and summoned another house elf, requesting hot chocolate for two. "Now, what were you doing out in the rain? I cannot conceive why you would do something so foolish."

"There was once a time when you enjoyed doing things in the rain," he said, glaring at her over the rim of his mug. She sat opposite in what used to be her chair. Or was it still her chair? No. They may have bought it together, but she had abandoned it just as readily as she had their bed, and him.

"_What are you doing out there, you silly girl?"_

"_I'm a woman, as you well know, Sev. Come out and dance!" She was whirling around and around like a mad thing, and he feared that she would slip in the mud, and get her beautiful blonde hair—currently clinging to the top of the white blouse she was wearing—completely dirty. Not that he wouldn't mind helping her to wash it out._

_And he certainly wasn't complaining about the way her shirt was now virtually see-through. After all, there was no one else around to see._

_Perhaps that was what had spurred him into action. He stepped from the dry corridor into the wet courtyard, able to forget the teeming rain while in Luna's arms. They clung to each other, spinning in place, kissing. So involved did they become that they both slipped in the mud, and he landed on top of her. Before he could apologise, however, she had pressed her lips to his again, and they had done more than just roll around in the mud._

_Suffice to say, _everywhere_ had needed cleaning afterwards._

"Times change, Severus, and we change with them," she said, sitting down.

"I have not seen you this serious since the war."

"As you had said, it was time for me to grow up. I cannot be a child forever."

"Indeed."

They sat in silence for a time, until they had both finished their hot chocolate. Yet another house elf came and collected the mugs, and disappeared again with a loud crack. Both were lost yet again in memories. Finally, Luna spoke.

"I had hoped that it was just me, in that I wasn't enough of a woman for you," she said, staring into the fire, but talking to Severus. She didn't see him look up at her. "Am I serious enough for you now? I did my best, but…"

"What did you say?"

"I said that…"

"How could you possibly think that you needed to change?"

"I just wanted you to have someone worthy of your attention," she said, hanging her head. "I'm too frivolous in nature; or I was. Please tell me that I'm better." She looked at him now, her eyes pleading, not taking in his shocked look. "Please say that you can love me now. Please say that it isn't too late."

"Luna," he said, and he shook his head, in a daze. She let out a loud and sudden sob, and placed her head in her hands, shoulders shaking as she wept. He immediately leapt to his feet, and rushed to her side. "Luna. Luna, my love. I don't want this. I want the _old_ you, the _real_ you. Not some person you made up because you think I wanted anything different. I wouldn't have been with you before if I didn't want _you_. Believe me." He stroked her wet her away from her face. He realised that she was still wet. Summoning his strength, he cast a drying spell over her as well, and she shivered at the rush of magic.

"Thank you," she whispered. He placed a kiss on her cheek, and her eyes slid to the left to meet his gaze. "I love you, Severus. I was just trying to do what I thought best."

"Something no one has ever done for me," he said, equally quiet. "And that is what makes me love you all the more." Her eyes lit up.

"You love me? You really do?"

"Yes," he said, now stroking both sides of her head. "Of course I do. I'm sorry if you ever thought differently, but it's true. Why did you leave? Did I really frighten you away? Did you really think that you needed to change?" She nodded. "Gods above, I'm so sorry. He bent forward and their lips met, parting almost immediately as tongues traced familiar paths. Soon, Severus found himself with his arms full of witch, as he carried her through to his—to _their_—bedroom. He placed her on the bed, and began to divest her of her now-dry clothing.

"Severus…"

"It's 'Sev', if you don't mind."

"I haven't taken a potion." He paused, and looked straight into her eyes, determined to see the truth.

"Do you want to?"

"No." She shook her head. "I don't want to."

"Good," he said, and he blatantly ignored her look of shock as he continued to strip her.

Soon, her mind was on something else altogether, contraceptive potions far from her mind…

…and a day of shopping in Muggle London not that far off on the horizon.

THE END

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Sweeeeet. A nice little story for my readers of "Indebted"; well, the ones who wanted me to write a Luna/Severus fanfic. So here it is. You're welcome.

**Review, review, review!**


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